Apple Bacon Bread Pudding

Happy Holiday Season, my friends!

We have made it past Thanksgiving, so I can officially be as annoying as possible with my over-the-top Christmas spirit! Yay! Woo! Candy Canes! Gingerbread!

As I write up this blog post, I may or may not be snuggled up on the couch with Mr. Raleigh, wearing a shirt covered in gingerbread men, listening to some Christmas tunes while drinking coffee with a candy cane swirling around in my big mug…

If you don’t recall from last holiday season, this time of year just speaks to me—it’s truly the time when everyone’s love just comes out, no questions asked, and that makes me even more warm and fuzzy than usual! And if you’re at my house for Christmas, it’s going to be gingerbread house making, Bad Santa watching, spiked eggnog and Cognac drinking, and I-spy Christmas ornament playing. Things get pretty wild up there.

ANYWAYS! Let me stop rambling about the upcoming excitement in Maine, but instead about this even bigger thrill of the recipe below! Bacon. Apples. Spices. Bread. Crumb Topping.

I think I should have had you at bacon, but had to add in the crumb topping incase you’re nuts and your mouth doesn’t water at the thought of bacon.

Alright, so I have a small confession…the idea of bread pudding hasn’t always appealed to me. I see it on a brunch menu, a dessert menu, I’m kind of like well…pancakes, waffles, chocolate cake…they’re all higher up to me. But then after the past few weeks at work of making savory bread pudding almost everyday, I decided to put aside all of my past feelings and give it another shot. See, at work, we use day old savory pastries—croissants, gougeres, ham puffs—and that’s when I realized it can’t be that bad if there’s flaky, buttery pastry in it.

What bread is in my sweet variation? Cinnamon bread and challah, thank you very much. Luckily, homemade OR store bought is just fine, and day old is even better. And then I just added almost every favorite ingredient of mine: bacon for some savory-salty action, apples for a tart crunch, cinnamon and nutmeg—I mean, it’s Christmas, brown sugar for that wonderful sweetness, and a buttery, big crumb topping for even more little flavor bursts.

After making my own bread pudding and seeing how fun it is to experiment with flavor combinations, there’s absolutely no reason why this incredible custard shouldn’t move up in your ranking, too! One of the best parts? You can make this and let it sit overnight in the fridge, and then bake it fresh in the morning—hello simple brunch!

Oh, and I heard Christmas is on a Sunday this year, the day of brunching…so here is one less thing you need to plan!

crumb ingredients

Brown Sugar—1 oz, or 2 TBL

Flour—0.75 oz, or 2 TBL

Cinnamon—¼ tsp

Nutmeg—pinch

Butter, cold+cubed—1.5 oz, or 3 TBL

process

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients.

Either using a fork, a pastry cutter, or, my favorite, your hands (!!), work the butter into the dry ingredients.

You want to have large and small crumbs of the topping, this will give you little buttery, spicy pockets once the bread pudding is baked!

When you are ready to bake your bread pudding, sprinkle this all over the top before putting into the oven.

ingredients

Bacon, cooked—8-10 pieces

Apple, diced—1

Bread—10 oz, or 4 C (packed!)

Milk—8 oz, or 1 C

Eggs—4

Vanilla—1 tsp

Brown Sugar—2.5 oz, or 1/3 C

Salt—¾ tsp

Cinnamon—2 tsp

process

In a large bowl, combine the bacon, diced apple, and bread.

*For bread, using day old is great, really soaks up the liquid. You may also use whatever type you’d like—but a sweet challah or cinnamon raison are the perfect flavor combinations!*

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

Pour your liquid mixture over the bread and mix well.

Once thoroughly mixed, pour all into a baking dish—I used a pie dish, makes it look pretty!

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in the refrigerator to soak for at least 2 hours to overnight!

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Sprinkle the crumb topping (recipe below) over the bread pudding.

Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until you can see that the custard has set and there are no more runny eggs.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

Nutella Swirled Coffee Cake

Happy Weekend! Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy let’s-celebrate-with-a-coffee-cake-day!

Did I make that last one up? Maybe, but I am just beyond excited about this recipe down below.

You know those weekends when it’s so cold, all you want to do is snuggle up in your big bed that’s full of everything cozy—fleece sheets, down comforter, warmth? The high of 18˚ has you contemplating breaking your rule of no eating in bed? Yeah. It’s one of those weekends!

Luckily, it’s supposed to get back up in the 50’s by the end of next week, so I can daydream about that for the two days when I decide to run all of my errands in the freezing cold. But let’s forget for a moment about this snowless, cold winter we are having, and think about cake. For breakfast. In bed.

Aka Coffee Cake.

For some reason, every woman in my family is great at making coffee cakes—possibly because it’s acceptable to have cake early in the morning, so we take full advantage of that. Anytime we ever visit my aunt in Chicago, it’s lots and lots of coffee, lots and lots of coffee cake (that Roberto is obsessed with) and lots and lots of talking, just how I like it! My mom makes an out-of-this-world Honey Bun cake, where she takes away the crumb and adds a ridiculously sweet, yummy glaze. Now it’s my turn to join these fabulous ladies in a family tradition!

What’s my little secret to this ever so moist, ever so cinnamonny, and ever so crumby cake? The Nutella layer that is swirled in the middle of the cake.

Ohhhhh yes, Nutella, something you can never go wrong with!

So, this cake is basically like oh hey, I’m a dense, wonderful coffee cake, I’m full of yogurt and moistness, and surprise! I’m filled with a chocolatey, hazelnutty center.

You are welcome.

While I sit here on this beautiful and quiet morning, cozy in my apartment and 14˚F outside, I’ll try my best not to get any more crumbs in the bed or Nutella traces on my face…but you’ll understand the struggle in an hour once your cake is baked!

crumb ingredients

Flour—3.75 oz, or ¾ C

Brown Sugar—0.75 oz, or 1 ½ TBL

Cinnamon—1 tsp

Butter, melted—2 oz, or 4 TBL

Milk—0.5 oz, or 1 TBL

process

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Mix.

With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the melted butter and then the milk.

Mix just until small pebble sized pieces have formed.

Reserve in a separate bowl until ready to use in your cake!

cake ingredients

Butter, room temperature—3 oz, or 6 TBL

Brown Sugar—4 oz, or ½ C

Eggs—1

Vanilla Extract—1 ½ tsp

Yogurt—5 oz, or ½ C

Milk—4 oz, or ½ C

Flour—7.5 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Baking Soda—¼ tsp

Baking Powder—½ tsp

Salt—½ tsp

Cinnamon—1 ½ tsp

Nutmeg—½ tsp

Nutella, optional—¼ C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar.

Once smooth, add in your egg and vanilla until combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Sift together all of your dry ingredients—the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Alternate adding some of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, on low speed, with the yogurt and milk.

Once all of your dry ingredients, the yogurt and milk have been added, and the batter has just formed, turn off your mixer.

Prepare a small 6” cake pan by spraying with nonstick spray and then either lining the bottom with parchment paper or sprinkling a small amount of flour just to lightly coat the pan.

Put in half of your cake batter.

Now the optional part—adding a nice, thick coating of Nutella on top of the crumb makes for an incredible surprise! While this is optional, or using another nut butter can be just as tasty, the sweetness from the chocolate and nuttiness of the hazelnuts does wonders for this coffee cake!

Cover completely with half of the crumbs you made earlier.

Top with the rest of the cake batter and sprinkle with the remaining crumb.

Place in your over and bake for 45-50 minutes, the cake should be slightly golden brown.

Allow to cool just a little before taking out of the pan and eating!

Bon Appétit!

Apple Cider Crumb Donuts

Since moving to this truly wild state of WV, I have discovered many things that my fall obsessed self took for granted back in beautiful ol’ New England. To start, there is the issue of seasons, which hardly exist here. Yes it was 35˚ out this morning, and yes it will be 70˚ later in the week. After sweating my little butt off all summer long—April to September, that is—I was ready for some brisk weather, was being the key word. I had big plans to apple and pumpkin pick, to run around in the crunchy, fallen, beautiful leaves and to eat 10# of candy corn while watching Hocus Pocus.

Sadly, my friends, this fall plan of mine is only about 10% possible. Why of course I can eat as much candy as I want and watch all the classic Halloween films, but the true fall activities aren’t exactly doable…

Do I want to drive 2+ hours to an orchard with an 80% of rain on a Sunday? The idea doesn’t sound too appealing, so naturally I will bring my fall fun to Charleston! So, as I light my plethora of autumn candles, I can now let the fall baking obsession commence yet again!

Apple Cider donuts are something that I could easily scarf down a dozen of, guilt free. I love the tartness from the cider, the warm coziness that is jam packed from so much cinnamon, and the pie-like crumble I sprinkle on top! Pie crumble? Yeah, you saw that right. I mean, who doesn't just love anything pie, perfect for literally any time of the year and in any form. If apple cider donuts don't make your mouth water enough, the addition of a buttery crust crumbly bit sure will! These donuts are not overly cakey, but have a rich denseness that, along with my way too many candle scents, will have you thinking you’re at an orchard stuffing your face with some post-picking goodies! 

Whether you're like me, who has to make their own little fall happen, or are surrounded by haunted houses and warm cider at the pumpkin patch, these super simple, and super autumn, donuts are just another addition you can add to your fall baking obsession repertoire!

topping ingredients

Flour—7.5 oz, or 1 ½ C

Brown Sugar—1.25 oz, or 2 TBL

Cinnamon—0.1 oz, or 2 tsp

Butter (melted)—4 oz, or 1 stick/8 TBL

Apple Cider—1 oz, or 1 ½ TBL

topping process

Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

In the bowl of your mixer, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Slowly stream in your melted butter and apple cider just until the topping begins to form into little pebbles.

On a parchment paper lined sheet pan, spread out the crumble topping.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they begin to lightly brown.

batter ingredients

Apple Cider—12.5 oz, or 1 ½ C

Cinnamon Sticks—2

Flour—9.5 oz, or 1 ¾ C

Baking Powder—0.15 oz, or 1 tsp

Baking Soda—0.2 oz, 1 tsp

Cinnamon—0.05 oz, or ¾ tsp

Salt—0.05 oz, ¼ tsp

Egg—1

Butter (melted)—1.5 oz, or 3 TBL

Brown Sugar—6 oz, or 2/3 C

Milk—4.5 oz, or ½ C

batter process

In a small pot, combine your apple cider with the 2 cinnamon sticks.

Allow to boil until it has reduced to half (¾ cup), and cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Whisk together your egg, brown sugar and milk.

Add your melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix.

Next, add in the egg mixture, followed by the cool and reduced apple cider.

Once you have a smooth donut batter, pour into your donut pan (which should be sprayed with nonstick spray), filling up each compartment about halfway.

Sprinkle the baked crumble on top of your batter, completely covering it.

Bake your donuts for 12-15 minutes, until the outer edges are slightly brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Take them out of the pan and enjoy!

These apple cider donuts are so yummy with a glass of warm cider, coffee, or even on their own!

Bon Appétit!